How To Cook Portabella Mushrooms

A Portabella mushroom, which is just a smaller version of a Portobello mushroom, is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a number of recipes. Depending upon how you cook Portabella mushrooms, they can be used to eat alone, as the main ingredient in a Portabella mushroom burger, in pasta, and in countless other ways.

The basic method for cooking Portabella mushrooms is to grill them. Take your Portabella mushroom and lightly brush oil on both sides. If you like your mushrooms with a little bit of salt and/or pepper, add this before you cook the Portabella. Either place it in an oven with a grill setting or on a separate grill. The Portabella mushroom will be cooked after 4-5 minutes of grilling on each side. After this, your Portabella will be ready to serve in any fashion you choose. One popular item way to use a Portabella that has been cooked this way is to put it, with some cheese and lettuce, on a bun and to eat it like a burger.

Another option for cooking your Portabella mushroom is to roast it in the oven. Roasting is a popular cooking method for Portabella mushrooms and other vegetables because it slowly brings out the flavor, particularly sweeter tones. To roast the Portabella, preheat the oven to 425 degrees, brush it with oil just as you would when grilling it, and place the mushroom cap side up in the oven. After about 20 minutes you will have cooked Portabella mushrooms. When roasting, you can also add other vegetables or seasoning while you cook the Portabella mushrooms to make more of your meal at once.

Another popular cooking method for Portabellas is sautéing. Sautéing Portabella mushrooms is popular for eating Portabellas plain or topping other meals such as salads or pasta. To sauté Portabella mushrooms, heat a bit of butter or oil in pan at medium heat. Be careful not to allow the heat to go too high as the oil or butter will start popping and possibly burn you. To cook the Portabella mushrooms, add them in to the heated pan whole, or sliced in any way you like. Push the mushrooms around in the pan, occasionally turning them, for about 5 minutes. You can throw in other ingredients that you would like to have sautéed while you cook Portabella mushrooms, if your recipe calls for multiple sautéed items.

When cooked, the Portabella mushroom will become tender. The longer you cook the Portabella mushrooms, the firmer they will become. Depending upon your purpose, you may choose to vary cooking time for perfectly cooked Portabella mushrooms.